APP fraud losses surge by 12% in H1

Editorial

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The main reason for the increase of APP losses was investment scams, when a criminal convinces their victim to move money into a fictitious fund or to pay for a fake investment. £97.7 million was stolen through this type of fraud, a 55 per cent increase on the same time last year.

The losses from purchase scams, where a victim pays in advance for goods or services that are never received, continued to be the most common form of APP fraud and accounted for 72 per cent of all APP cases.

The losses from romance scams, where victims are tricked into believing they are in a relationship, increased by 35 per cent.

Losses and cases relating to the impersonation of police or bank officials, and other forms of impersonation, dropped to a series of lows in the first half of this year, driven down in part by education campaigns. Total volume of cases fell by 16 per cent and losses fell by 14 per cent.

In total, £159.2 million of APP losses was returned to victims in H1 2025, representing 62 per cent of the total amount stolen.

Most scams originate outside the banking system, with 66% starting online and 17% through telecommunications networks.

UK Finance is calling on the government to force technology and telecommunications sectors to contribute financially to fraud reimbursement, as well as sharing expertise and intelligence effectively.

Jonathan Frost, global advisory director at BioCatch says: “The continued growth of authorised push payment (APP) fraud remains a major concern. Stopping APP fraud will require more than just technology. It necessitates both better and cross-industry collaboration. The UK market is primed for real-time intelligence-sharing and should embrace it to continue leading the global fight against fraud.”